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STOCKTON FIRE SCENES : AND
FIRE-FIGHTERS, AND MAN
WHO PERISHED. •. '
Consternation was aroused on board the
Nippon Maru at 5:20 o'clock last evening,
when a posse of Custom-house inspectors
made a sudden and unlooked for demand
to examine and search the vessel, which
has been in port for a couple of days.
The inspectors went aft and forward of
the vessel and took possession of a dozen
trunks and quickly made an inspection of
the contents.
After turning over the articles from top
to bottom they discovered costly silks and
many gowns and other rare articles
which are valued at between J20.000 and
$30,000. U - ..... <
A further investigation of the contents
of other boxes revealed to the officials
the hiding places of several chests of
cpium. The articles, which the owners
Intended to land free of duty, and which
In the aggregate amount in value , to a
handsome bum, v»ere revealed to the offi
cers of the vessel,- but there was no one
•who could or would give information to
the inspectors as to how it was these
trunks of valuables ha"d not been properly
reported to the customs officers on the
arrival of the Nippon Maru.
That some one had been awaiting a
favorable opportunity to bring the costly
rilks and gowns and opium ashore sur
reptitiously there is no doubt In the
minds of the Inspectors, who are satis
fled that they nipped a great smuggling
scheme in the bud.
SHIPPING COMBINATION
HOLDS A CONFERENCE
Sept. 29.— A conference of
the interests ladetlfled with the proposed
shipping combine was held to-day, at the
office of J. P. Morgan & Co. Those pres
ent included Sir Canton Dawklns, Charles
Steel and George W. Perkins of the Mor
gan firm; P. A. B. Widener, W. G. Pierrie
and Henry Wilding, the latter of the Le^
land Steamship Line. y
Admiral Lord Charles Beresford of the
British navy was a party to the confer
ence for a brief time.
One of Morgan's partners said there
would be no statement about the shipping
After her Interview \ with Secretary
Kane Norma went home and resumed her
employment with the telephone company.
Her mother says she had no further cause
of complaint about her daughter until a
couple of weeks ago, when she stayed
away from home for a week. When she
'was taken to task for her absence she
explained that she was working nights
In the telephone office and had taken* a
room downtown to avoid the long walk
home. Her mother made inquiries at the
Had pretty Norma Daley, the 17-year
cld telephone girl, who killed herself with
carbolic acid Friday afternoon, waited a
low hours she would have been given an
opportunity to have, wiped out the mis
takes of her life and , been united to the
man she loved. Instead she gave way to
desp.Tir and sought her own destruction
at the very hour when her betrothed,: who
through oversleeping had broken his ap r
pointment with her, was . on r his way to
meet her and complete his arrangements
to marry her.
As early, as, last January the case of the
young girl was called to the attention of
Secretary Frank Kane of the Pacific Hu
mane Society by Mrs. Daley, who com
plained that her daughter had remained
away from, home for a week. She said
she had located the girl at the Touraine
lodging-house on Ellis street, where she
occupied apartments with another girl,
and she was satisfied' her daughter was
nol leading a proper lift. Secretary Kane
had the mother take the girl to his of
fice, where he threatened her with con
finement in the Magdalene Asylum until
she reached her majority unless she re
turned home and forsook her wild ways.
The girl confessed association with
heveral men, among them a druggist, who
supplied Norma with expensive clothes,
jewelry and considerable sums of money.
She also told of having visited a saloon
which has a side entrance on Ellis. street
w'th a man whose name" she would not
give, but who represented himself as a
purser on one o * the Australian steamers.
GOES TO LIVE HOME.
Costly Silks and Opium
Are Hidden Aboard
Nippon Maru. ;
Nor ma Daley's Sweet
heart Heady to R:ght
Wrong He Did.
BROKEN PROMISE
BRINGS DESPAIR
TO GIRL SUICIDE
SMUGGLING SCHEME
IS LAID BARE BY
CUSTOMS OFFICERS
Continued on Page 3, Column 3.
Continued on. Page 3, Column 2.
The aftermath \ is replete with l tales > of'
heroism, but : the mad and fatal. dash of
Hose Cart Driver Thomas J. . Walsh, be
tween two columns of seething. flames and
suffocating, smoke. In an: effort to, lay: a
line of hose was perhaps i the most heroic!
deed attempted by~anybody, s aa the 'flames'
WALSH'S MAD DRIVE.
The excitement and confusion that ' at
tended the biggest fire that 1 has 'ever been
visted upon' any. section i of .the San' Joa
quin Valley have died away and 'the resi
dents are beginning to realize the extent'
of the calamity, j . ' :
ings and handsome' residences
laid waste and seventeen persons in
jured is the dread ¦ harvest' of the con
flagration that occurred here last evening. 1
The residents are plunged into mourning
and horror over the devastation "that was
wrought In* the heart of ' the- city f by i
the devouring, elements. Charred and
smoldering ruins,' twisted water and .gas
pipes and a few brick- chimneys are the
sole relics that maik an area of almo'at
eix square blocks where yesterday stood
many substantial buildings ' and . happy
homes. . ¦•< .-'.-,
STOCKTON, Sept .'29.-^One Hfo
and -probably j another lost,,
nearly one-half million dollars' |
worth of fine 1 * business build-
Special Dispatch to The CalL N
ThosWaish
Dies Froth
Burns.
The army organization bill was passed
by Congress, but an additional bill pro
viding for the establishment of "a general
staff was defeated at the j last session of
Congress. . ,- It will be pressed again at. the
short, session, and if passed will be the
capstone of Root's official work. '
Thus" far he has said nothing about
the date of his retirement to members of
the Cabinet, but they are cognizant of his
intention to retire to private life;
although one expressed surprise to-day
that May 1 should be named as the date.
He thought that was too early.
After Secretary Alger left the Cabinet
Elihu Root was looked upon by Presi
dent McKinley as the best available man
to take the burden of the great questions
of the Philippines on his shoulders, and
President Roosevelt has frequently ex
pressed the opinion that Root was con
tending with greater responsibilities than
other members of the Cabinet and the
load he was carrying would be too much
for any man less strong. Root was ap
pointed Secretary of War In 1899. He Im
mediately put under way plans for the
transferring of the control of Cuba to the
Cuban people, and the establishment of
civil government In the Philippines and
reorganization of the army. His views
on these subjects were bitterly antagon
ized in many quarters. , The war in China
was a distinct embarrassment, coming at
a time when the War Department was
already busy with vital questions. •
CALL BUREAU, 1406 G STREET, N.
W., WASHINGTON, Sept. 29.— That Sec
retary Root, having brought to a highly,
successful close. the two great labors of
reorganization of the army and estab
lishment of civil government in Cuba and
the Philippines, .will soon retire from the
Cabinet is expected In Washington. Root
left a very lucrative law practice in New
York to enter President McKlnley's Cab
inet.' The act involved a great personal
sacrifice, and it has : many times been
given : out by Root himself that he ex
pected to return to the practice of law
when he had concluded the work he set
out. to do.
Special Dispatch to The CaU;
Successfully Completing
Great Tasks, He In
tends to Retire.
velous "rapidity. . The report that engines
were . sent from Sacramento . to aid in
quenching the . flre proved . unfounded.
Chief Carroll denied this rumor to-day.
- The • extent of the burned • area proved
greater than was estimated last night.
The two* square" blocks" bounded* by San
Joaquin,- Washington; Hunter and Lafay
ette -^streets (the Pavilion) and by' San
Joaquin, Lafayette, Hunter and Sonora
¦ Watchman John J. Lawrence and Frank
Valerga, a member of Caasasa's band,
were the only persons In the big fair
building when the flre broke out. They
noticed the flames and ran upstairs, but
by the time they got there the entire
south wing of the wooden structure was
on fire. Lawrence ran to the telephone
and" called up the Eureka engine house
and Chief Carroll sent, his department out
on a still alarm. Later the alarm was
turned in and by the time the entire de
partment arrived on the scene the cupola
of the • pavilion was a. mass of flames.
From that, time the flre spread with mar-
The Fire Department rendered heroic
and efficient service in fighting the flames.
Handicapped as they were with', the lim
ited apparatus, Chief Carroll and his men
performed -.yeoman deeds. ' . '¦ ; ¦ .
The fire did not burn Itself out, and had
not Chief Carroll displayed keen Judg
ment if would have swe^t out every ves
tige of/property in its way clear down.to
Mormon Channel. When he realized that
tho flames were spreading with such rap
idity that .his men were unable to cope
•with them, Carroll moved his engines and
streams < down \ to* Church - street and
fought the flames from In front This
action 'on V the part . of the "department
saved a large area of handsome struc
tures directly: in the course of- the fire. ,
. -Stl Mary's Church, across, the street
from the Washington street end of the
pavilion, was badly damaged inside from
the heat. .The costly altar and organ will
have to be replaced, and if the church
was. not! a brick structure it would have
' been burned to the ground.
The exact cause of the fire is still a mat
.ter.of mystery, though the generally ac
cepted theory is that a defective electric
wire set flre to the bunting draped around
Hale Bros.' booth on the second floor In
the south wins of the Pavilion. .
FLAMES SPREAD RAPIDLY.
by the victims of the flames. City Physi
cian Henry Southworth' and Dr. Fitzger
ald, who kindly volunteered his services,
did commendable : work in dressing inju
ries of the victims and relieving their suf
ferings. ..¦•"" ..:...
;:-.'¦' ' ORIGIN A MYSTERY.
THE INJURED.
j Edward Knowles. hands and face badly burn.
ed and injured by Inhaling flames; will proba
bly die.
: Frank P. Kendall, extratnan. left hand se
riously burned.
Ansel Knowles, fireman, had an arm burned.
; Frank Stelnbacher. hands and face burned
and leg Injured by falling from a burning root.
Sydney ."Woodburn, nearly suffocated by
flames and Injured by a fall from a building.
THOMAS J A "WALSH, hose wagon driver for
Engine Company No. 2.
Following is a complete list of the cas
ualities. i
THE DEAD.
THE DEAD AND INJTTBED.
streets, ' were ¦ burned In their entirety.
The east half of the block bounded by San
Joaquin, Sonora, Hunter and Church
.streets, was burned.
On the east side of San Joaquin street
the west one-third of the block bounded
:hy Washington, San Joaquin, Lafayette
and Sutter, streets and the west three
flfths of the block bounded by Lafayette.
San Joaquin, Sonora and Sutter streets
were . swept clean.
LIST OF BURNED BTJXLDHTGS*'
The names of the owners and the loca
tion of the destroyed ' buildings, together
with their assessed valuations as they ap
pear on the booka of the Assessor of San
Joaquin County, are as follows:
Block No. 30 (the Pavilion), owned by th«
State. $40,000. : ' '
- Block No. 39, bounded by San Joaqixla. La
fayette, ' Hunter and Sonora — Margaret Cavasr
naro. $4000; Ralph P. Morrell. $1000; W. T*
Hewitt. $1500^- San Francisco Lumber Com
pany, $1200; R. "W. Russell, $4300; A. Bonzl.
$6000;'Mrs. Hugh Tye, $750; Annie Skhla. $750;
3. Briones. $8$0; Mary J. Fisher, $3000; Au
gusta Tripp, $500; H. TV. Leeker. $1000.
Block 43, bounded by San Joaquin. Sonora.
Hunter and Church — Helen Marys (six fiats).
$16,0CO; Joseph Capurra, $3CO; LJUle E. Hlggin
botham, $1200; Mrs. Bee Hoult. $3500; A. Fl
Weber. $500.
Block 31. bounded by "Washington. San Joa
quin, Lafayptte and Sutter— A. Albert! <thre«
bouses and two stores and his stock). $12,000;
O. Porcella, $300; Alexander Eymard. $1500;
Morrell & Mltscher (wood factory), $7000.
Block 40. bounded by Lafayette. San Joa
quin, Sonora and Sutter — Dtognessia Laogler.
$750; M. Zlgnego, $5C0; Stefano Solari. $450;
Mollle E. Ladd and C. Grattan (a shed). $100;
Louis Brledenbach. $1000; Mary A. Wledxnaa
(The Wilma), $5400; J. H. Hosklns' $6640; I*.
M. Endlcott. $2800; Adolph Brown. $1500.
Block 49. bounded by Sonora. San Joaquin.
Church and Sutter — Madelina Lertora. $3000;
Miss M. A. Thompson, $15C0; D. L. Lawrence.
50C0; Andrew McConnick. $1230; Harry and
George Homage, $2C0C; George Mosher. $5300.
In this block the homes of Messrs. Rlchardsca
and Conklin and a few others were damaged
bj* heat.
Knowles. was removed to the home of!
his brother and at a late hour to-night it
was announced that, he had little chance
for recovery." . / .
a Walsh .was t the driver . of the j Eureka
Truck 'Company and was a popular, and
efficient member of the Fire Department.
Knowles -was not, a member 1 of -the Fire
Department, but his two brothers, Rob
ert - and Ansel, both ' of whom were also
badly burned^, about t the hands and,'face,
have been connected with the flre- fighting
fdrce>6f -the city ; for several ;years.« . The
hose cart "and horse were" burned tb'ashes.
¦ purlng;'the^ height \of t .the 7 conflagration
the City Receiving Hospital f was ' crowde'd
About a hundred -'yards '.from Hunter
street the. horse stumbled^ and- fell, and
just then a 'big* section • of , the pavilion
caved In and. a withering blast of heat
burst upon f the two '* unfortunates on. the
hose' cart. Walsh fell staggering to ' the
street and 'commenced another game race
with;, death. He tried to stumble along
the road that . was < blistering his feet to
ward San ' Joaqulri - street and Knowles
made a similar dash_ for safety in the di
rection of -Hunter street. Knowles was
scon out of the range of the death-dealing
blast,: but poor' Walsh staggered blindly
along, a cruel' route- to .supposed safety.
His- clothing,-: took : flre. and his 'lungs
breathed in the hot blasts. At the corner
he. dropped unconscious and brave rescu
ers were soon. lifting his burned form into
an ambulance. He 'never recovered . his
senses.'" ' - ¦--.'¦
leaped from ': trie big Agricultural Pavilion .
and v started .to" envelop !.the buildings 'on
thejsouth'. side, : of ' ( Lafayette street, ". be
tween .Hunter j and San Joaquin. . Walsh, i
poor.) fellow.i died from -his injuries and
bi'.rns. this » morning 'in ~ St.' Joseph's . Hos
pital/ His "memory wili be , cherishe'd " in '
.the: Mill. City, for.. many.'a day. ¦ . ,. . *
; -"You can't make it, Tom," shouted Fire
Chief "Jim" Carroll, as he saw the dare
devilho'se. cart driver and his companion,
•Ed -Knowles, driving. madly through La-,
fayette ..street, .between the burning pavil
ion and i a row /of . flame-enveloped resi
dences on ;,the, south- side of. the! street.
•Walsh; neither, heard nor- heeded the
- warning -of .'the Chief. -'•¦ - • ¦ , -'
• ."For .God's'.sake, ] man, back,' 1
shouted f Carroll,, but : the daring fireman
and his companion "drove headlong, to cer r ,
'tain • destruction. / Knowles stood on -the
back of trie hoae'cartplaying out the hose 1
line^that'charre'd.'and^with'ered as soon as'
it,sttuck'the 'furnacerlike roadway. ...
A RACE .WITH "DEATH: , \
SECRETARY OF WAR
ROOT IS EXPECTED
TO LEAVE CABINET
Seventeen Per=
]^. : ;;^::^:-.^spns Receive Injuries.
CONFLAGRATION IN HEART OF STOCKTON LEAVES RECORD
OF DEA TH AND INJURY, AND DEVASTATION OF WIDE AREA
SAN FBAKCISCO, /TUESDAY, iSEPTEMBJSR /30,' 1902.
PKICE FIVE CENTS.
VOLUME XCn-KO. 122.
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL.